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Bucs invite top prospects Cole, Taillon to camp

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Cole on his 2012 season 1:24

Gerrit Cole, the first overall pick in the 2011 draft, looks back on what he experienced while pitching at three levels in 2012

By Tom Singer
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MLB.com |

Right-handers Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon, firmly locked in as the Pirates' top two prospects for a second consecutive year, both received invitations on Thursday to the club's Major League Spring Training camp.

The Bucs also extended Spring Training invitations to a pair of freshly-signed Minor League free agents, one with extensive big league experience. Outfielder Brad Hawpe and catcher Lucas May signed Minor League deals.

This will be a return to Pirate City for Cole, who got his professional feet wet in Bradenton last year prior to a season in which he ascended from Class A to Triple-A. The No. 1 overall choice in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft went an aggregate 9-7 with a 2.80 ERA in Bradenton, Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.

Taillon, the Pirates' top Draft choice and the overall No. 2 selection in 2010, will be attending his first big league camp. Drafted out of high school and thus one year younger than the UCLA product Cole, Taillon went 9-8 with a 3.55 ERA between Bradenton and Altoona in 2012.

Both Cole and Taillon participated in the MLB Futures Game prior to the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City.

Hawpe and May both spent the entire 2012 season in the Minors after attending the big league Spring Training camps of the Rangers and the Mets, respectively.

Hawpe is an eight-year big league veteran who spent his first six and half seasons with the Colorado Rockies when they were helmed by current Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. With the Rockies, Hawpe batted .280 with 118 homers and 464 RBIs in 816 games.

May, no relation to former Pirates catcher Milt May, had 37 at-bats with the Royals in 2010, but the 28-year-old receiver has toiled in the Minors for the rest of his 10-year professional career. At Triple-A Buffalo last season, he batted .215 in 75 games while throwing out 15 of 58 runners attempting to steal.

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog Change for a Nickel. He can also be found on Twitter @Tom_Singer. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.